Admitted Murderer Gets Life Sentence

A West Palm Beach man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing his ex-wife`s boyfriend, explaining he is ready to go to prison as long as he can help prove his brother wasn`t to blame for the murder.

Palm Beach Circuit Judge Richard Burk sentenced Abraham Rivera, 26, to life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years on the murder charge and to a simultaneous 17 years for kidnapping. The sentence had been worked out between Rivera and prosecutors.

``I did it. Yes, I did it,`` Rivera told the judge as members of his victim`s family sobbed in the West Palm Beach courtroom. ``My brother had nothing to do with this case. I forced him.``

Rivera, a carpenter, was charged with killing Luis Manuel Velez, 37, Dec. 4. He was arrested the following day during a routine traffic stop in Richmond, Va., after officers noticed blood stains in his car and checked with Palm Beach County authorities. Rivera confessed to Virginia police.

``If this case went to trial by jury, there would be a real possibility of the death sentence being imposed,`` said defense lawyer Nelson Bailey, explaining why his client chose not to challenge the first-degree murder charge.

Police suspected Rivera after learning that he was the ex-husband of the murder victim`s girlfriend. Prosecutor Tom O`Malley said Abraham Rivera convinced his brother, Mizael Rivera, to bring Velez to the brother`s house. Velez and Mizael Rivera were friends.

Velez and Abraham Rivera began arguing over Judy Rivera, who Velez apparently had been seeing for at least six months. O`Malley said Rivera clubbed Velez in the head and, with his brother`s help, forced Velez at gunpoint to get into a car.

While Mizael Rivera drove, Abraham Rivera shot and killed Velez in the back seat, O`Malley said. The brothers hid the body under palm fronds on Singer Island off Riviera Beach, after Abraham Rivera slashed Velez`s throat.

As part of the plea agreement, Abraham Rivera will remain in the Palm Beach County Jail until after he can testify on his brother`s behalf in a trial set to begin July 15. Rivera insisted his brother did not know of his plans to kill Velez, but helped only because Rivera had a gun.

``Why do they keep my brother for something I forced him to do?`` Rivera asked.

O`Malley said the state will move ahead with its plans to prosecute Mizael Rivera for murder and kidnapping despite his brother`s protestations. He said Velez`s family approved the agreement to let Abraham Rivera avoid the death penalty.